Ethnicity and Tribe - Distribution
The largest and most powerful ethnic group is the Pashtun. The Pashtuns are primarily Pashtu speaking, although those residing in Kabul are often Dari speaking. Both Pashtu and Dari belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. In 1980 Dupree estimated that there were about 6.5 million Pashtuns in Afghanistan. This ethnic group, like most others in the country, is not limited to the borders of Afghanistan but also constitutes a major ethnic group of about 10 million in Pakistan. Pashtuns are generally Sunni, but there are Twelver Shia Pashtuns as well. In Afghanitan Pashtuns traditionally have resided in a large semicircular area following the Afghan border from north of the Darya ye Morgab east and southward to just north of 35° latitude. Enclaves of Pashtuns live scattered among other ethnic groups in much of the rest of the country, particularly in the northern regions and in the western interior owing to Amir Abdur Rahman's policy of Pashtun resettlement.
The Tajiks are also numerous. A problem in discussing this ethnic group lies in the tendency of some non Tajik groups to classify anyone who is Dari speaking as a member of this group. Some also categorize any urbanite who has become "detribalized" as Tajik. This is particularly true for Kabulis. Tajiks generally live in the west in the area around Herat, in the northwest interior, and (primarily) in the northeast of the country, although not in the Wakhan Corridor. Tajiks speak Dari and Tajik dialects of Dari. Some Tajiks are Sunni, while others (particularly those in the north of the country) are Ismaili. In 1980 Dupree estimated that there were 3.5 million Tajiks resident in the country.
Farsiwans (or Persians) are also Dari speaking. They live in western Afghanistan near the Iranian border; their area extends to almost 66° north longitude. Farsiwans, like the majority of Iranians, are Twelver Shia. In 1980 Dupree believed there to be about 600,000 Farsiwans in the country.
Qizilbash are remnants of the old Iranian presence. They are Twelver Shia, although Dupree asserts that some use taqfyya to pass as Sunni. They are a very small group found in Afghan urban centers. They are, of course, Dari speakers.
Hazaras speak a dialect of Dari and live primarily in central Afghanistan. Among Hazaras are members of every Muslim religious sect in the country Ismaili, Twelver Shia, and Sunni. Dupree put their number at 870,000 in 1980.
Altaic languages are also represented in the country by speakers of Turkic languages. The Uzbeks are Sunni who speak Uzbek, a Turkic dialect. Turkic languages are not in the same family as Indo European languages (such as Dari and Pashtu). Uzbeks live in a large semicircular area roughly following Afghanistan's northern borders, from Faryab Province almost to Feyzabad. Dupree's 1980 estimate was about 1 million people resident in the country. Turkmen are another Sunni Turkicspeaking group found scattered throughout the northernmost portion of Afghanistan along the Soviet border.
The Kirghiz are also Turkic speaking and, until recently, lived in the Pamir mountains of the Wakhan Corridor. In 1985 there were unconfirmed reports that this area was inhabited solely by Soviet and Afghan army soldiers and that the indigenous population had fled or been exiled. The Kirghiz lived it the high mountain valleys of this region, while another ethnic group, the Wakhi, occupied lowland areas. The Kirghiz are Sunnis.
The neighboring Wakhi, or Mountain Tajik, are speakers of Iranian dialects. They are often Ismaili but, according to Dupree, some Wakhi Twelver Shia and Sunni exist. They generally live in the same regions as the Kirghiz but at lower altitudes.
Nuristanis are Sunni who speak dialects of Dari and often also Pashtu. They live in the Konarha, Nangarhar, Laghman, and Parvan areas of eastern Afghanistan. The area where the Nuristanis live, Nuristan, was the scene of the first armed opposition to the Khalq government.
Arabs are a Sunni group living in northeastern Afghanistan, primarily "in an arc extending from Maimana to Kunduz." Here they speak a dialect of Farsi that is mixed with Uzbek vocabulary. Some scholars report that Arabic speaking Arab communities exist in the area of Balkh.
The selection of major ethnic groups in Afghanistan is somewhat arbitrary, as is a classification by language and location. Ethnicity is extremely complicated in the country, and any simple classification is bound to have many exceptions. Furthermore, there are many more ethnic groups than those listed here. Ethnicity has been extensively explored by scholars studying Afghanistan, and they often disagree, further complicating an already labyrinthine phenomenon.
Anderson points out the futility of attempting to locate Afghan ethnic groups on a map because "boundaries are not all of a piece . . . they vary according to the situation." Scholars disagree about what constitutes an ethnic group. Richard F. Strand, an ethnologist, and Anderson describe ethnicity as a process emerging "in situations ryhere people of different traditions and organizations come together or are brought together in contexts set by terms external to themselves." Anthropologist Hugh Beattie defines ethnic groups as "loose collectivities of people who classify themselves and others for the purposes of social interaction on the basis of varying criteria such as language, ideology of patrilineal descent, origin and history and custom in general." These two definitions need not conflict if the processual nature of social interaction is kept in mind. Patrilineal descent is also notoriously malleable and to some extent may be defined and redefined situationally. Canfield introduces a further complication. His experience in Bamian leads him to assert, unlike many other scholars, the importance of religious sectarian differences which, he contends, take precedence over ethnicity.
Ethnicity, then, is based on shared kinship traced through the father, shared customs, tradition, and language. It is most obvious and is to a large extent formed when different groups come into contact in alien situations. The importance of ethnicity as a behavioral and cognitive category is generally extremely important in Afghanistan but, in some areas, at least, may take a backseat to religious sectarianism. Finally, ethnicity, religious sect, tribe, family, and mode of subsistence intermesh and are to some extent indistinguishable. The largest and most politically powerful ethnic group, the Pashtuns (or Pakhtuns, in northern Pakhtu dialects), is very diverse. It is composed of at least seven tribal groups: the Durrani, Ghilzai, Jaji, Mangal, Safi, Mamund, and Mohmand. The Pashtuns have been the subject of several scholars' research.
Anderson reports that because Pashtuns have historically dominated government, other ethnic groups have had to learn to deal with them on the Pashtuns' own terms. He refers to the "Pashtunization" of the country's public behavior. Being a Pashtun, at least a male Pashtun, centers around Pashtunwali, or "doing Pashto." "Doing Pashto" connotes adherence to a code of behavior stressing honor (namos) and its defense, autonomy, bravery, self respect, and respect for others. It is probable that Pashtunwali is shared by all male Pashtuns. A man's namos is expressed through his ability to dominate and defend his property, including his household and his wife and female relatives. A Pashtun who has suffered a blow to his honor is expected to seek revenge in the form of physical retaliation or compensation in property or money. Such a code of behavior is often in opposition to strict interpretation of sharia. When a conflict occurs, Pashtuns tend to "do Pashto" instead of following Sunna, believing as they do that Muslim and Pashtun are equivalent.
In matters other than Pashtunwali, there may be regional differences. Richard Tapper reports that to be classified as Pashtun in the Saripul district, a man must speak Pashto, be a Sunni, trace his ancestry to Qays, and marry his sisters and daughters to other Pashtuns. Most Pashtuns in the country tend to follow this marriage pattern. It is a form of hypergamy and is also practiced by other ethnic groups, i.e., a woman may marry within her ethnic status group or above it, but she may not marry below it. Males may marry within or below their group. Because ethnic groups in Afghanistan are ranked in terms of their status and all Pashtuns consider themselves the top-ranked ethnic group, Pashtun women marry only other Pashtuns.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
